This invention relates to a carrier for beverage containers and other items.
The traditional thermos bottle has some notorious disadvantages (weight, hardness, breakability, difficulty in cleaning) that have led inventors to produce alternative softer devices for keeping beverages in cans or bottles cold or hot.
There are already a variety of insulated beverage carriers designed to hold a single can, cup or bottle of hot or cold liquid. An example are the insulating foam sleeves which can be placed around beer cans to keep them cold. One such sleeve is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,381,922.
Some prior beverage containers have been provided with carrying handles and the like. The sleeve shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,381,922, for example, has a strip of Velcro material attached to it, so that the unit can be stuck to a fixture such as a belt clip having a complementary pad of Velcro. (Throughout this specification, the term "Velcro" is capitalized to indicate it is a trademark. The equivalent generic term "hook and loop fastener" is used as well.)
Some of prior beverage carriers are in the form of a sack or satchel. U.S. Pat. No. 4,401,245, for example, shows a collapsible, insulating beverage container carrier made of a quilted fabric material. One can tighten the mouth of the container around a beverage bottle neck by drawing together opposed Velcro straps. A pocket for other articles is attached to one side of the bag, and a carrying strap is attached to the other side.
While there are some beverage carriers which can be adjusted to hold containers of various sizes, some deformation of the exterior of the carrier typically occurs. Such deformation may obscure logos or printing on the outside of the carrier, and may also constrict any pockets or other accessories attached to the carrier. It would be better to provide a carrier whose interior size was adjustable, but in a way that did not affect the exterior of the carrier.
French Patent 2670187 discloses a bag for holding bottled beverages. Three draw strings at different levels on the bag allow one to evert the bag and thus form the mouth at one of the different levels, but the exterior appearance is affected because each of the draw strings runs around the outside of the bag.